By Steve Bigham

The Knicks capped off a terrific 1999-2000 season by capturing the Parks and Recreation Junior Boys’ basketball league championship last Wednesday night with a 52-46 win over the Hornets on the Newtown High School court.

With the win, the Knicks also exacted a little bit of revenge for an 18-point loss suffered at the hands of the Hornets during the regular season.

The Knicks, coached by Jack Shpunt, were the top seed after finishing the regular season 8-2. In the championship game, they jumped out of the gates early and led from start to finish. But Keith Kling’s Hornets did not go down without a fight and this game was still in question up until the final minute when the Knicks’ Matt Miller broke free off an in bounds play and scored on a wide open layup.

The Knicks actually led by 13 points going into the fourth quarter. However, the Hornets’ Ryan Davies and Kyle Hastedt helped lead a strong charge, and the Hornets managed to cut the deficit to one point. After that, Knicks point guard Matt Eriquez took control of the game, settling down the team, much like Michigan State’s Mateen Cleaves in Monday’s NCAA men’s championship game.

Miller led the way for the Knicks with 16 points. Eriquez added 11 – including six in the final quarter.

Also playing well for the Knicks was Mike Cash who was strong on the boards. Stephen Chuddy played well, helping to defend league MVP Kyle Hastedt, who finished with 16 points to lead the Hornets. Ryan Davies added eight points in the loss.

The Knicks advanced to the finals after beating the Warriors 52-39 in semifinal action. In that game, Shpunt turned to Matt Myslewski and Tomor Sedaliu in the hopes that they could keep Warriors’ big man Christian Power in check. They did that and then some as Myslewski led the team in scoring with 14 points. Eriquez added 10 in the victory.